Dempsey Roll
The Dempsey Roll (デンプシー ·ロール, Denpushī Rōru) is a technique used by Makunouchi Ippo where he lowers his stance and central balance and begins to aggressively weave his body in a pattern similar to the shape of a side way figure eight. Ippo then fires a series of rapidly executed punches from both left and right angles whilst continuing his bobbing and weaving. Usage As the Dempsey Roll is a flurry of hooks throw with the fighters full body weight behind them, few fighters can withstand it should it land successfully, particularly if it isn't guarded against. Ippo's development have allowed him to bring the Dempsey Roll to newer, stronger and less predictable levels of strength. Strengths and Weaknesses The major factor of the Dempsey Roll's strength comes from weight shifting and full rotation to the back and hips, allowing powerful hits to be landed on the target's blind spots. The bobbing aspect takes the boxer to the further parts of the other person's vision and thus it is possible for an experienced Dempsey Roll user to hit their opponents without being seen. However, it is mentioned by Kamogawa Genji and Miyata Ichirō that the Dempsey Roll is easy to counter and avoid due to its predictable and highly readable repetitive rhythm as well as pace. The first character to counter it is Ricardo Martinez, who simply threw jabs that hit Ippo while he was weaving. Shimabukuro Iwao understood this, but being a fighter-type he did not possess the speed or skill to counter the Dempsey Roll. Instead, he stopped the Dempsey Roll by matching it blow-for-blow. Itagaki Manabu identified the technique's weakness and, in order to help Ippo, developed the counter that was likely to be used against him. Kimura Tatsuya was able to get the timing right in a spar against Ippo, but he backed off, stating that it took an incredible amount of courage to face the Dempsey Roll. Itagaki's counter was later passed to Alexander Volg Zangief, who knocked out Ippo in a spar. The technique was to lean away from the Dempsey Roll. As the attacks come from blind spots, leaning back would increase the field of view, making it simple to see and therefore treating it like a regular hook. Sawamura Ryūhei is the first person seen to be able to counter the technique effectively during a match. Following Sawamura's example, Karasawa Takuzō is also said to have developed a strategy to counter this technique, forcing Ippo to seal the Dempsey Roll temporarily to improve his basic techniques. Ironically, the Dempsey Roll's biggest weakness is itself: the fact that it's so powerful meant that every boxer would develop and learn the counter. Unknowingly, Ippo's improving of his standard boxing techniques allows him to progress the Dempsey Roll's strength even further. Trivia *The Dempsey Roll was developed and used by real-life boxer William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey. An example of the technique can be viewed on the Youtube video here. *In the manga, Ippo began theorising the Dempsey Roll while watching how Mike Tyson bobbed his head and used the momentum to punch.Chapter 209 This scene was omitted in the anime. See Also *Wikipedia's article on Jack Dempsey. *New Dempsey Roll *Free Form Dempsey Roll References fr:Dempsey Roll Category:Techniques Category:Sunday Punches